BURTON HI-FIVE MITT

Its difficult to find gloves with a good balance of dexterity and warmth. This is especially evident when splitboarding in New England, trying to fix a broken tail clip in an arctic, wind whipped forest. The Burton Hi-Five Mitt strikes a dexterous balance when precision is required. Billed to ease filming and photography, which it also does, the quickly deployable finger zipper exposes your bare digits for playing with straps, clips, vents, or even checking your pins..

Quickly deployable finger zipper.

The fabric on the denim model I tested was tough, and the leather palm flexible even when cold. They are roomy enough for their size that thin liners fit as well for extra protection but are not included.

Liners fit inside comfortably.

An added bonus riding powder? You can leave your wrist closures tight and still snag a photo quickly, keeping the crew moving.

You can leave your wrist closures tight and still snag a photo quickly, keeping the crew moving.

I noted the thumb can be exposed with ease as well for surgical tasks and slipped back quickly.

Free your thumbs for surgical tasks.

The insulation is medium warm with a fleece interior, not pipe mitts but not the thickest puff mitts either. Being mittens, they are warmer than gloves by definition, and aren’t too bulky in your pack when stored. There is an index finder cradle on the interior top to assist with closing the zipper, but I found it unnecessary for the most part.

Index finger cradle.

There is no bulky wrist webbing or velcro to contend with, but instead, low profile elastic and a knit cuff, so no conflict with pole straps. Some cold air and snow leakage was noted through the finger zipper itself when dragging knuckle and throwing laybacks, but this is minor. Their retail price is also reasonable. Until Burton makes a version with a waterproof zipper, the Hi-Five Mitt is the best option for hiding from the frigid breeze and quickly switching to gear surgery or troubleshoot-that-jetboil mode.